Ukraine presses offensive as airfield fire reported deep inside Russia

A Russian ambulance is abandoned on the road after being attacked on the highway outside the town of Sudzha on August 8, 2024. – Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, which entered a third day on August 8, 2024, appears to be an unprecedented assault which experts say could aim to draw Russian resources away from other areas or to undermine morale. Russia has given only scarce updates as it seeks to strike a balance between denouncing the escalation and avoiding panic. Agence France-Presse

KYIV — Ukraine pressed on with a major cross-border incursion into Russia, where state media and local officials reported early Friday a fire at a military airfield and “massive” drone attack hundreds of kilometers from the border.

The cross-frontier offensive in Kursk region over the past few days appears to be the most significant attack on Russian soil since the war in Ukraine began, involving around 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian army.

Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Thursday that Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its invasion.

READ: Zelensky says Russia must feel the war as Ukraine presses attack

“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,” Zelensky said, without directly referring to the offensive.

Early Friday, official Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti reported a fire at a military airfield in the neighbouring Lipetsk region citing the local emergencies ministry directorate, though neither outlet offered a cause.

The reports came just hours after regional governor Igor Artamonov announced on Telegram at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) that Lipetsk had “been subjected to a massive UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack”, later adding a local power facility was damaged.

READ: Thousands evacuated as Russia battles major Ukrainian border incursion

In a subsequent message, Artamonov urged residents to ignore calls on social media to leave Lipetsk — saying they were “spread by the enemy in order to sow panic” — only to reverse course less than an hour later.

“To eliminate the consequences of the detonation of explosive objects, a state of emergency is introduced in Lipetsk municipal district,” he said in a post at around 4:00 am, listing evacuation orders for four settlements on the outskirts of Lipetsk city.

“Temporary accommodation points and transport are being prepared.”

Artamonov said preliminary reports suggested at least six people had been wounded as a result of the attack.

He later announced around 7:00 am that the red threat level for the city had been lifted.

Cross-border gains

Lipetsk city is about 330 kilometers (210 miles) from the Ukrainian border with Russia’s Kursk region, where pro-Kyiv forces for days have been waging an offensive on Russian territory.

The independent US-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had made significant territorial gains since the push began on Tuesday.

“Geolocated footage and Russian claims indicate that Ukrainian forces continued rapid advances further into Kursk Oblast on August 8 (Thursday), and Ukrainian forces are reportedly present in areas as far as 35 kilometers from the international border with Sumy Oblast” in Ukraine, the institute said in its daily campaign assessment.

It cautioned, however, that Ukrainian forces “most certainly do not control” all of that territory.

Russia’s defence ministry said Thursday that its troops were “continuing to destroy” armed Ukrainian units and were using air strikes, rocket and artillery fire to try to push them back.

It said it had rushed in reserves and was “thwarting attempts to break through” deeper into Kursk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a “large-scale provocation” by Kyiv, and Russia’s top general vowed on Wednesday to crush it.

The US State Department has expressed support for Kyiv without directly commenting on the operation.